Improvement in clothes-racks



H. W. ROSS.

Improvement in Clothes-Racks.y

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HENRY w. Ross, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT lN CLOTHES-Racks.

Specification forming part of LettersPatent No. l33,05, dated November 12, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. Ross, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Clothes-Racks, of which the following is a specification This clothes-rack is especially adaptedl to use in drying clothes or exposing them after being ironed. It is made so as to be easily folded for moving it edgewise through a doorway, either with or without clothes upon it, and can be placed out of doors with a large number of clothes upon it, or easily brought in again in case of shower. I employ a rectangular frame provided with turning feet, and in this, frame are arms in two ranges upon vertical center-bolts, and each arm is made to interlock when folded with the arm of the opposite range; thereby the arms can be heavy and strong at the attaching end, and tapering toward the outer end, but will not occupy when folded any more space than the thickness of the frame. The arms when disteuded are spread radially around the vertical attachin g-bolts, and present an extended space in which clothes are to be hung, but the arms can be folded toward each other, either with or without clothes upon them, suciently to allow the rack to be passed freely through a doorway, the construction of the arms being such as to allow space between them when folded without lessenin g their strength.

In the drawing, Figure I is an elevation of the said frame partially in section, with some of the arms folded and others distended 5 and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan at the line x x.

The rectangular frame is made of the vertical side pieces a a, bottom rail b, top rail 0,

. and middle rail d, mortised and tenoned together. The feet are made of cross-pieces f, attached at their centers to the rail b by screws or bolts e, so as to be turned at right angles to the frame for supporting the same, or turned into line with the frame for transportation. The vertical bolts or rods i i form the centers or fulcrums on which the arms k k swing, and

by which they are supported. These rods pass through holes in the top rail c and into sockets in the middle rail d, there being smaller holes at o, by which a :nail or small rod may be introduced to drive out the rod t', when one of the arms may become injured or require replacing. A cork or plug, s, prevents water running into the hole in the rail c through which the rod i passes. Each arm 7c or 7c is made with a butt or base that is rectangular,

or nearly so, in order that one base resting upon another may properly support the re spective arms, and the holes for the rodst' are made through these butts. The arms do not extend out from the centers ot these butts, but at one side, as seen in Fig. 2, in order that there may be the necessary space for one arm, k, to fold adjacent to the corresponding arm k', and the two occupy only the same space as the thickness of the frame. These arms are tapering, hence when folded together there are spaces between the alternating arms, and the arms are as thick and strong as the butts or bases. The arms are provided with metal bushes, each made of a piece of sheet-metal rolled up into tubularform and provided with an ear, as shown in Fig. 3, that projecting into the wood prevents the same turning. This bushing in the arm prevents the hole wearin g and the arm becoming loose. The feet may also be hushed in the same manner.

I claim as my invention- 1. The folding clothes-rack made with taper ing arms k k extending out from one side of the butt or base, as set forth, in combination with the rodsi and frame a b c d, substantially as set forth.

2. The arm k or k made with a metal bushing formed of sheet-metal with a projecting ear, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 24th day of September, 1872.

HENRY IV. ROSS.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINOKNEY, CRAs. H. SMITH. 

